Content Marketing Platform (CMP)
The problem CMP solves
Section titled “The problem CMP solves”Content teams juggle spreadsheets for editorial calendars, email threads for approvals, and disconnected tools for writing and publishing. A blog post might live in a Google Doc, get feedback in Slack, track status in a project management tool, and finally get copied into the CMS by hand. Every handoff introduces delay, version confusion, and the risk that content goes live without proper review.
Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) replaces this fragmented workflow with a single system where teams plan campaigns, create content, route approvals, and publish to CMS — all without switching tools.
What CMP does
Section titled “What CMP does”CMP is the operational layer for content teams. It covers four capabilities that together turn content strategy into published output.
Campaign planning
Section titled “Campaign planning”Campaigns group related content around a theme, launch date, or business initiative. A product launch campaign might include blog posts, landing pages, social media assets, and email copy — all planned together with shared deadlines and ownership.
Key planning capabilities:
- Campaign briefs — Define objectives, target audience, key messages, and success metrics before any writing begins
- Content requests — Stakeholders submit content needs through structured forms, so requirements are captured consistently
- Capacity planning — See team workload at a glance to avoid overcommitting writers and designers
Content calendar
Section titled “Content calendar”The content calendar provides a visual timeline of everything your team is producing. Unlike a spreadsheet, it updates automatically as content moves through workflow stages.
| View | What it shows | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar | Content plotted on a monthly or weekly grid | Spotting gaps in publishing schedule |
| Kanban | Cards grouped by workflow stage | Tracking content through production |
| List | Tabular view with filters and sorting | Bulk status checks and reporting |
| Timeline | Gantt-style view with dependencies | Managing complex multi-asset campaigns |
Editorial workflows
Section titled “Editorial workflows”Every piece of content moves through a defined workflow — from draft to review to approval to publication. CMP lets you customize these workflows to match how your team actually works.
Workflow capabilities:
- Custom stages — Define stages like Draft, Legal Review, Brand Review, Final Approval, Scheduled
- Role-based assignments — Route content to the right reviewer automatically based on content type or campaign
- Due dates and reminders — Set deadlines for each stage, with automatic notifications when content is overdue
- Comments and annotations — Reviewers leave feedback directly on the content, keeping conversations in context
- Version comparison — Compare drafts side by side to see what changed between revisions
Collaboration
Section titled “Collaboration”CMP brings everyone involved in content production into one workspace:
- Real-time co-editing — Multiple team members can work on the same content simultaneously
- Task assignments — Break content production into tasks (write, design, review, translate) and assign to team members
- Activity feeds — See a chronological log of all actions taken on a piece of content
- Notifications — Get alerted when content needs your attention, when deadlines approach, or when assignments change
How CMP connects to CMS
Section titled “How CMP connects to CMS”CMP is where content is planned and produced. CMS is where content is published and delivered to visitors. The connection between them eliminates the manual copy-paste step that causes errors and delays.
The publishing flow works like this:
- Create in CMP — Authors write content using CMP’s editor, which supports rich text, images, and structured fields
- Review and approve — Content moves through your workflow stages until it reaches final approval
- Publish to CMS — Approved content is pushed to CMS, where it maps to the appropriate content type and page structure
- Schedule or go live — Content can be published immediately or scheduled for a future date in CMS
This connection means content authors do not need CMS access to contribute. They work entirely in CMP, while CMS editors and developers control how and where content appears on the site.
Where CMP fits in Optimizely One
Section titled “Where CMP fits in Optimizely One”| Product | How it works with CMP |
|---|---|
| CMS | CMP publishes approved content directly to CMS pages |
| Opal | AI assists with content creation, tone adjustments, and SEO optimization inside CMP’s editor |
| Analytics | Measures how CMP-published content performs after it goes live |
| DAM | Digital assets stored in DAM are accessible within CMP for use in content |
| Experimentation | Content published from CMP can be A/B tested in CMS |
When to use CMP vs working directly in CMS
Section titled “When to use CMP vs working directly in CMS”| Scenario | Recommended approach |
|---|---|
| Marketing team producing blog posts, articles, landing pages | CMP — editorial workflow and campaign context |
| Developer building page templates and content types | CMS — direct access to content model and rendering |
| Content author making quick edits to an existing page | CMS — on-page editing is faster for small changes |
| Multi-team campaign with dozens of assets and approvals | CMP — campaign planning and workflow routing |
| Single author publishing without review requirements | CMS — less overhead for simple publishing |
CMP adds the most value when content production involves multiple people, review stages, or campaign coordination. For simple, single-author publishing, working directly in CMS is more efficient.